Why Do Parrots Need Foraging Toys?

As you probably know already, toys are really important as they provide your Parrot with lots of mental stimulation and stop them becoming bored. Foraging toys are perhaps the most enriching of all.

How does foraging benefit a Parrot’s wellbeing?
Ethologist Cheryl Meehan discovered that foraging is even more important to Parrots than play and other Parrot behaviourists and many avian vets all strongly recommend giving your Parrot plenty of foraging opportunities.

In the wild a Parrot could spend up to six hours a day foraging, searching for and eating their food. That’s over half their waking day spent being kept busy and active.

Your Parrot will happily work for the foods, treats and even favourite chewable materials that they value, as long as they don’t have access to it elsewhere. The more opportunity your Parrot has to replicate this natural foraging behaviour the less likely they are to become bored.

.
However, many companion Parrots aren’t given the opportunity to forage for their food, resulting in lots of free time, increasing the chances of your Parrot becoming bored which in turn can cause unwanted and destructive behaviours.

The benefits of foraging toys to dogs are well documented; it gives them mental stimulation, builds a bond between them and their owner and they learn a new skill. The same applies for Parrots; foraging exercises your Parrot’s clever mind, gives them physical exercise and makes their day much more fulfilling.

What foraging toys are available?
There are two styles of foraging toy available, reusable and chewable. Chewable and reusable foraging toys work the same way, delicious food, treats or chewable materials are placed inside and your Parrot needs to work out how to retrieve them.

To claim their rewards from reusable foraging toys your Parrot has to move, twist and turn the toy to manipulate the treats until they can retrieve them. Your Parrot needs to start off with an easy foraging toy first of all, before building up to the more complicated puzzles.

As your Parrot becomes more proficient at foraging, challenge your bird’s intellect even further. Although some Parrots are happy with simple puzzles, others want to be constantly challenged.

Build up a toy box, so you can rotate your Parrot’s foraging toys on a regular basis. This helps to keep toys fresh and interesting for your Parrot.

Placing foraging toys inside and outside of your Parrot’s cage and at different levels encourages your Parrot to move and explore, burning up energy as they satisfy their appetite which helps keep the whole process going throughout the day.

Foraging toys are one of if not the most important style of toy you can buy for your Parrot.

With your help you could transform your bird’s life for the better and stop them mimicking that immortal phrase so commonly associated with their non feathered 5 year old counterpart,’ I’m bored’.